Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 4, 1989Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1989, 4:14 AM CDT for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 4, 1989, 4:14 AM CDT (09:14 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 4:44 AM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Limestone County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 151 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1989-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 119 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1989-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 337 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
119 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
735 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
337 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
419 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 4, 2:42 AM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
240 AM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA...

A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 5 AM CDT FOR 24 NORTHWEST
ALABAMA COUNTIES.

AT 240 AM...VERY SRRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE
INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA FROM EASTERN MISSISSIPPI.

THIS INCLUDES SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN MARION
COUNTY...APPROACHING THE HAMILTON AREA. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE MOVING INTO LAMAR COUNTY SOON AFTER 3 AM CDT.
THEY WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE POSSIBLE STRONG WINDS...
HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN.
A WARNING MAY BE NEEDED FOR SOME NORTHWEST XALABAMA COUNTIES
SOON.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 2:45 AM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
240 AM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA...

A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 5 AM CDT FOR 14 NORTHWEST
ALABAMA COUNTIES.

AT 240 AM...VERY SRRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE
INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA FROM EASTERN MISSISSIPPI.

THIS INCLUDES SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN MARION
COUNTY...APPROACHING THE HAMILTON AREA. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE MOVING INTO LAMAR COUNTY SOON AFTER 3 AM CDT.
THEY WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE POSSIBLE STRONG WINDS...
HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN.
A WARNING MAYb BE NEEDED FOR SOME NORTHWEST ALABAMA COUNTIES
SOON.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 3:43 AM CDT, 31 minutes before
STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
343 AM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORT TREES DOWN AT HAMILTON IN
   NORTHWEST ALABAMA'S MARION COUNTY. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
   MOVED THROUGH THE HAMILTON AREA AROUND 315 TO 320 AM CDT.
   THE HOME OF AN ALABAMA STATE TROOPER WAS ALSO DAMAGED. THE
   TROOPERS PATROL CAR WAS THE VICTIM OF A FALLING TREE.

   STATE TROOPERS REPORT POWER OUT IN THE HAMILTON AREA...
 "  HAMPERING EFFORTS TO CHECK ON DAMAGE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 3:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion59 min
Apr 4, 4:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan50 min
Apr 4, 4:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker64 min
Apr 4, 4:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount64 min
Apr 4, 5:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens43 min
Apr 4, 5:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall46 min
Apr 4, 7:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Pickens, Tuscaloosa66 min
Apr 4, 10:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman60 min
Apr 4, 10:07 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount, Cullman68 min
Apr 4, 10:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens64 min
Apr 4, 10:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall69 min
Apr 4, 10:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan59 min
Apr 4, 10:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah60 min
Apr 4, 10:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette54 min
Apr 4, 10:59 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall46 min
Apr 4, 11:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens69 min
Apr 4, 11:35 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb55 min
Apr 4, 11:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa67 min
Apr 4, 11:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson64 min
Apr 4, 12:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount69 min
Apr 4, 12:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Hale61 min
Apr 4, 12:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair, Shelby64 min
Apr 4, 12:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah65 min
Apr 4, 12:49 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby41 min
Apr 4, 1:01 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, Etowah59 min
Apr 4, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Marengo60 min
Apr 4, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Cleburne60 min
Apr 4, 1:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale, Marengo43 min
Apr 4, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph60 min
Apr 4, 1:59 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton31 min
Apr 4, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.